Our Little Princess
by emshosh
Summary: AU- no curse. Snow and Charming get to raise Emma. Some cute Charming family fluff. * This is my first FanFic
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Snow I don't think our daughter likes me," Charming rolled back into their bed handing off his baby girl to his wife.

Snow giggled a bit, earning a look from her husband, "Emma loves you Charming". She tried to keep a straight face but this was not the first time that they've had this conversation and it always ends the same way.

"Well she likes you more than she likes me." He sighed and sunk down into the covers.

"My love, what would make you think that?" Snow gave a funny face to her daughter who smiled.

"She always reaches for you, or when I go and get her she won't stop crying until I hand her to you and then she's fine." He was now whining.

"Did you ever stop to think for a moment why she is attached to me?" She raised her eyebrow as her husband shook his head. "I feed her. Without me she doesn't eat, so yes she tends to choose me over you a little more."

"I would feed her," he shrugged.

"Charming, as lovely as you are, as you keep on reminding me when she wakes up in the middle of the night, you can't feed her. So deal with it." She turned her attention back to her little baby girl in her arms. "You're daddy's a little whiny isn't he? Hmm, Emma?" She laughed as her daughter smiled. "She agrees with me."

Charming rolled his eyes and sighed. He knew Snow and Emma would gang up on him, but he didn't know it would start this early. "But we still love daddy don't we, Em?"

It was as if Emma knew what they were speaking of because she reached out for her father who took no time to scoop her up in his arms.

"Whatever my princess wants, my princess will have." He kissed her cheek as Emma let out a little gurgle. After the moment was over she reached back for her mother making her father sigh again, "Well it was nice while it lasted."

"Charming, she's hungry," Snow laughed as she prepared herself to feed her daughter. Within a minute the princess was eating and Snow couldn't take her eyes off of her, she always used these moments to study her daughter. "She's gotten so big. Don't you remember when she was so small we thought we would break her if we moved her?"

"I still think I'm going to break her if I move her," he laughed as he kissed the top of the feeding baby's head. "I'd like her to stop growing. It's happening way too fast for my liking."

Snow let Emma's hand wrap around her finger. "As much as I would love to agree with you on that, I'm really looking forward to seeing what she does in the future. I really wonder when she's going to start to crawl and walk, she's going to cause so much trouble, …" she paused for a moment, "…I wonder what her first word will be."

"I think it should be 'papa' or 'dada' to make up for the favoritism." '_It would only be fair,_' he thought to himself.

"Yeah right. It should be 'mama' for the pure fact that I gave her life." Snow looked down at her baby girl who was just about done with her meal. "Is it sad that I can see her own name being her first word? Or 'no'. I think she's going to like the word 'no'." Snow placed her daughter on her shoulder and rubbed her back until she heard a burp.

"Why would she like the word 'no'? She's a happy baby, she won't need to use that word."

"Oh so when it comes to boys you don't want our daughter to be able to say no to them?"

He paused for a moment letting the thought of his daughter hanging around boys really sink in. "Maybe 'no' would be a good first word. She can practice it." He started to think and Snow could see the worry lines on his forehead starting to form.

"It's alright, Charming, we have many, many years before we have to worry about our little girl and boys. Well I hope we have at least 14 years."

"14 years? Are you trying to give me a heart attack? Emma's not allowed to look at a boy until she's 30!" He huffed and looked down at his daughter. "Hmm, Em? Does 30 sound like a good age?" The baby just looked at him. The smile she had has turned into a frown and she let out a small cry.

"I would take that as her first 'no', Charming," Snow giggled and lifted her daughter up. She placed Emma so she was leaning on her knees. Emma settled into her new position and started to look around at the new settings. "We are going to give your daddy a heart attack when it comes to boys, hmm my princess? I'll teach you all you need to know," She laughed as Emma kept smiling.

"Please don't, Snow. I think I'll teach Emma about boys, and I can have the dress maker make her a dress that covers her from the tip of her head till her toes. I can also have someone that's always watching her who will scare all the boys away."

"I don't like where this is going and neither is your three month old daughter" Snow chuckled. "Charming, she's still in the process of holding up her own head." Snow looked back at her daughter who was looking at her. "Alright, my princess, it's time to sleep and to let your daddy come back down to reality." She gave Emma's little face a bunch of kisses and Emma let out a couple of giggles.

"Snow, you're just going to keep her awake with all those kisses." Charming sat up getting ready to go to bed himself.

"You're just jealous. Isn't he, Emma?" She started to play peek-a-boo with Emma who started laughing again. After a couple minutes of hearing her daughter's laughter (something she could listen to for hours) she could see that her baby girl was getting tired out. Emma let out a big yawn and Snow just smiled as she brought Emma to lay on her chest and rubbed her back softly while humming a lullaby.

"You know, I can see her personality forming every day. It's so nice to see." Charming leaned back down to his daughter and gave her head a couple of small kisses. Realizing that she was out like a light, he took her baby blanket and laid it across her little body to shield her from the cold. He then placed his finger on her little face, tracing its outline, and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek and she let out a smile.

"See she loves her daddy," Snow smiled. She truly had everything she ever wanted.

Authors Note: Hey guys thanks so much for reading. Let me know if you would like me to continue the story and if so I'm always up for suggestions. Thanks guys :)


	2. Chapter 2

Authors Note: Hey guys, thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews, keep them coming. I have the next couple chapters planned out already and will have them posted soon (hopefully). Again always up for suggestions. Enjoy the new Chapter :)

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Chapter 2

The sun was shining in through the nursery windows, letting the nice breeze of the early spring air fill the room. Snow sat on the floor only a few feet away from her young daughter who was playing with her new toys while lying on her tummy. Snow let out a couple giggles as she watched Emma attempt to stuff her mouth with each toy, to only get frustrated when they wouldn't fit and would move on to the next one. "Emma?" Emma raised her little head, her green eyes looking at her mother. "What should we do with ourselves this afternoon?" Snow scooted closer to her baby girl and picked her up. "We can go and visit some friends. That could be fun." Emma smiled and reached out for her mother's long black hair and in response Snow took Emma's little fingers and gave them a kiss and sat her back down on the ground with a pillow to support her little back. "So, what do you say, Em? Should we go and visit some friends? Or should we go and sit outside now that it's nice out?"

"How about spending the day with your husband and father?" Snow turned her head to see Charming walking into his daughter's room. Emma instantly smiled and reached her hands up to her father. "How's my princess doing?" He kissed Emma on the head and ran his fingers through her little blonde hair and in response she giggled. "I'm guessing that means good."

"We would love to spend the day with our daddy but doesn't he have work to get done?" Snow raised a brow knowing very well how much her husband hates doing paper work and would much rather spend time with his princess.

Charming leaned down and placed a kiss on her cheek. "I swear I got all my work done this morning just so I could spend the day with my girls." He smiled and sat behind her.

Feeling his arms tightly around her body, Snow relaxed leaning against him. "His girls would like that very, very much. In fact Emma was missing her Papa so much that we had to sleep with his shirt." She pointed to one of his night shirts laying on the chair.

"So other than taking my sleep wear, what have we been up to this lovely morning?"

"Well, after Emma and I slept in a little, we had some breakfast and we've been in here playing with her new toys. We had some tummy time and now we are currently sitting, I leaning on you and Emma leaning on her pillow." She laughed as she felt Charming give her side a little tickle. "We were also having a very in-depth conversation about our plans for the rest of the day."

"Oh I'm sorry, you may continue your in-depth conversation. I know how much Emma dislikes being interrupted while speaking." Snow gave his shoulder a little slap. "What? I thought it was funny," Charming laughed and gave his wife a small kiss on the temple.

Emma let out a little sound which caught both of her parents' attention. She was making little sounds while playing with her little ring toy. She found all the little different toys that were attached to it fascinating. "Emma, can you please stop getting older so fast?" Charming took a deep breath "I still feel like it was yesterday that you were still pregnant and now she's five months old." Charming closed his eyes and smiled at the memories.

"I know what you mean. At first I was looking forward to her getting a little older but time is just flying by." Snow turned her head back to Emma to see the baby on all fours about ready to start crawling. "Charming." She tried to whisper.

"Hmm?" His eyes were still closed.

"Charming, look at your daughter." She was trying to stay calm in fear that she would scare her daughter into sitting back down.

"Oh my gods!" His eyes grew wide as his daughter started to crawl towards them.

"Emma, you're crawling!" Snow exclaimed but in turn scared Emma who plopped back down onto her bottom. "Come on baby, come to mama and papa, you can do it." With the encouragement Emma moved her little body and Snow picked her up in her arms. "You did it baby!" She gave her a kiss and then it was Charming's turn.

He scooped her up and gave her a little toss in the air, earning a little giggle. "That's my girl." Charming held her up and brought her down to give her kisses all over her face. "I bet you waited for Papa to be with you so he could see this, didn't you?" He grinned. "Looks like all that tummy time and sitting time that your mommy had you do really worked." He winked at his wife and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and went back to kissing his daughter until Emma made a weird noise out of excitement.

"Well that wasn't a usual sound," Snow laughed as she kissed the top of Emma's head.

Spotting her toys on the ground, Emma started to babble and reach for them. Taking that as a hint, Charming sat back down on the ground and let her lean against him as she played. He ran his fingers through her hair again and laughed as she would look up and show him her toys as she kept on babbling. It amazed him at how talkative she was even though she wasn't speaking a language he could understand. He looked over at his wife who was wearing the biggest smile on her face. He smiled back at her but was pulled away again by Emma shoving a new toy in his face.

"I told you she really missed her Papa." Snow kept on smiling as she watched the two people she loved most in the world interact. She couldn't help the snort she let out when she saw her husband stick one of the toys in his mouth and watched her daughter's reaction. It took Emma a couple seconds to actually see what her father had done and instantly started to laugh and tug the toy out of his mouth and stick it in her own. "Charming what are you teaching our daughter?" Snow couldn't stop laughing.

"What? I'm teaching her how to be charming." He laughed and kissed his daughter. The rest of the day was filled with laughter as the family did what they loved most and spent it with the people that they loved.


	3. Chapter 3

Authors Note: Thank you guys again for all the wonderful comments and reviews. Here is the next Chapter. Hope you enjoy it. Keep the reviews coming :)

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Chapter 3

"Ma..." Snow looked at her daughter waiting for her to finish the word but Emma just closed her mouth. This had been happening a lot lately. Emma would start a word but not finish it leaving both of her parents watching her so intensively for days now.

"Just one more 'ma', Emma, that's all you need, can you say 'mama'?" Snow looked at Emma again who was watching her mother's lips move. Emma's lips were closed and they weren't opening. "I swear you are just teasing me, you little princess." She tickled her daughter who let out a little laugh "Now you open your mouth, eh?" Snow joked around with her daughter.

"I still see we have yet to master the second 'Ma'." Charming looked at his wife from the door. "What about the 'Pa'? You would tell me if she said it, right?"

"Of course I would tell you. I wouldn't hide her first word from you just so I can say it was 'Mama'." She looked at her daughter as she said the word.

"Snow, take it easy, Emma will talk when she wants to talk." Charming had been going over this with Snow for the past couple of weeks since she had gotten it in her mind that Emma was going to start speaking at any moment.

"I know but I don't want to miss it." Snow let Emma back onto the floor and watched as she went directly back to her pile of plush toys.

"Ulf." Emma kept on repeating as she searched through her pile of toys. Snow laughed at her daughter's mumbling. Out of all the noised Emma would make she has heard 'Ulf' a lot followed by 'eh' and 'ah'.

"How could you miss it? You have Emma attached to your hip 24/7, Snow. Not that she complains but still."

"I like having my daughter with me. I know some people find it weird that we don't really have a nanny for her but I just don't feel right leaving her with someone else. I'm her mother, you're her father and we take care of our child, it's that simple. I don't want Emma growing up without seeing us all day and finding that her nanny is more of a mother than I am." She admitted to her husband and looked back at her daughter.

"I never complained about it, Snow. I don't understand how people could do it. I mean maybe it's the way I grew up. I thought I might have to fight you to not have to get one." He looked at his wife who looked hurt at his insinuation. "Not like that Snow. I would never doubt that you wouldn't want to care for Emma, but the way I was raised and you were raised were different. You had a Nanny." He tried to defend himself.

"Yes I did have one. She was the loveliest lady and would do anything for me, but my mother also had a lot of involvement in my upbringing until she passed. People found it weird back then, but still my mother always wanted to be the one to teach me." Snow walked over to the rocking chair. Once she sat down, Emma just looked at her wondering why she had moved away and then looked back up at her father who was still standing in the doorway and then back at her toys.

"I'm sorry, Snow, I didn't mean for it to come off like that. Since the day we met I could imagine no one else being the mother of my children and the best mother in the world." He looked down and smiled at Emma and gave her head a little kiss and walked towards the chair. He knelt down next to his wife. "You are the most wonderful mother I've ever met, and Emma is so lucky to have a Mama like you." He kissed her cheek.

"You charmed your way out of that one." She smiled.

"Well, I use my powers for good." They both laughed.

Emma decided she didn't like being out of the loop so she crawled over to the chair. She raised her arms up but her parents were too busy looking at each other to realize that she wanted to go up. So in effort to get her parent's attention she opened her mouth. "Mama." She raised her arms again as both parents looked at her. Snow with a wide smile on her face. Still not having what she wanted she tried again. "Mama."

Snow couldn't keep the tears in and let a couple roll down her cheek as she picked her daughter up who smiled at her in a way of thanking her mother for doing what she wanted. "Emma, you said Mama." She kissed her daughter's cheek.

"Mama," she repeated.

"Aww man, it's always the mama." He joked as he proudly kissed his daughter "See, she even agrees that you're the best mama."

"It's because I have the best baby." She smiled and kissed her husband and looked back at her daughter in her arms. "Do you know who mama is?"

Emma reached her arms around her mother and gave her a hug. "Mama."

Snow just smiled. Not only was mama her first word but she understood who her mama was.

"Now we just have to teach her to say 'papa'," Charming joked, "Emma, am I mama?" The little girl giggled and shook her head. "We have a smart daughter."

"Well, of course we do." Snow smiled and stood up placing Emma on her hip. "She is our daughter after all."

"Mama, mama, mama, mama." Emma clapped her hands with excitement but it soon went away as she grew tired.

"Well, that was fun," Snow giggled, loving every single moment of hearing those words.

"I think we're going to have to teach her more words. 'Mama' won't really get her far."

"Of course it would get us far, our mama always knows what we want. Isn't papa silly, Emma?" Snow pulled her daughter in close to her chest feeling her exhaustion.

"Papa," Emma whispered.

"What?" Snow looked down at her daughter. "Charming, did you just hear that?"

"Hear what?" He moved around the room to his wife and daughter's side.

"She said 'papa'."

"Now, don't go saying that to make me jealous." Charming bent down to pick up Emma's toys.

"No, I promise you that's what she said." She looked back down at Emma. "Emma, tell papa what you just told mama." No answer. "Hmm, Emma, can you tell me what you just said?"

"Papa," she let out another whisper.

"She did it! She said 'papa'!" Charming gently took his sleepy daughter from his wife and hugged her. "And who's papa?" The little girl pointed at her father which made his smile grow.

"Papa." She smiled and yawned. She turned her head a little and saw her mother smiling with a couple tears in her eyes. "Mama." she looked at her and reached out.

"What is it, my baby?" Snow took her back and Emma, with a worried expression, reached her little fingers towards her mother's tears.

"Oh baby, I'm ok. I'm just really, really happy." She kissed her little head and Emma looked proudly at her father and realized that he was holding her toys. She reached for her father and he gladly took her into his arms. Once she was there she took a hold of her plush wolf and smiled.

"Ulf."

"Uh, Snow." Snow looked at Charming. "I hate to break it to you, but I don't think 'Mama' was her first word."

"What on earth are you talking about?" She gave him a questionable glare.

"I think I figure out what 'Ulf' means." He laughed as he signaled down to his daughter who was hugging plush wolf in her little arms.

"You have got to be kidding me." Snow started to laugh at the realization. "Well, Red will be happy to hear that." Snow shook her head in amazement. "Well, her first word that she pronounced correctly was 'Mama' so…" She laughed.

"Anything you say, dear," He nodded as he pulled his daughter in for tight hug.


	4. Chapter 4

Authors Note: Hey guys. Sorry it took me so long to get this up. I'll hopefully be able to post at least two chapters a week from now on (thanks to school and work). Hope you enjoy, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks Guys :)

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Chapter 4

"Charming, I think something is wrong with Emma," Snow ran into the war room with their daughter at her hip.

"Snow, I don't think anything is wrong with Emma. Just calm down." He took a quick glance at his wife and resumed to reading his paper work.

"NO, David, listen to me!" This got his attention, Snow never called him by his real name, unless he was in trouble or it was a serious conversation. "She won't eat, she doesn't want to play, she won't stop crying and it's not like any crying I've ever heard before, it sounds like she's in pain, Charming." She kept on looking down at her daughter in her arms rubbing her back trying to keep her calm.

"Well, she's not crying now." He took a look at his daughter and began to notice something was wrong. Yes, Emma was not crying at this very moment, but she wasn't the same. This wasn't his usual happy and playful daughter, her cheeks were tear-stained and her face was flushed.

"I just spent the longest time getting her to calm down." Snow didn't take her eyes off Emma who just leaned her head further into her mother's body.

"Alright, let's head back to the room and see what's wrong." So they walked to their bed chambers and Snow gently placed Emma on the bed and she instantly started crying again and Charming could hear the pain that Snow had spoken of. "You were right. Hey, Em, what's the matter, princess?" He knelt down but felt as if he wasn't getting a good enough look so he sat on the bed.

"I think she has a temperature, she's warmer than she usually is." Snow placed a small kiss on her daughter's forehead to read her temperature. "Maybe we should get Doc?" Charming nodded and ran out of the room. Almost as soon as he left Snow had picked her daughter back up in her arms and gone to the washroom to get a cold towel to cool her baby girl down.

Once Charming had returned with Doc, the dwarf started to check the baby. After a good couple of minutes of checking her temperature and doing some small tests here and there he looked up at the worried parents, who hadn't taken their eyes off their baby girl. "She has a fever. It looks like Emma has caught her first cold. Keep on doing what you're doing with the towel to keep her temperature down and I'll come back and give you something to give to her while she's eating." He packed up all his gear and with a nod from both Charming and Snow he darted towards the door to get the medicine.

"Charming, I don't like this." Snow sunk into his chest trying to hide her fear and her tears to look strong in front of Emma.

"I know, but I assume every parent goes through this." He started to rub her back trying to ease her pain. "Is it bad that I'm surprised that it took this long for her to scare us?" He held her tight and felt a small giggle leave her throat.

"I know, but I was hoping that it just wouldn't happen." She looked up at him and then back at her daughter who was laying on the bed. Not liking the distance between herself and her daughter Snow crawled onto the bed and took her place next to Emma.

Emma seeing her mother beside her started to cry and held up her arms. "Mama," she whimpered over and over again. She wasn't happy about being sick and poor thing probably didn't understand why she was feeling so awful.

"Oh I know, Emma." It took an entire two seconds for Snow to have her baby in her arms. She rubbed her back and tried to sooth her. "I know that it hurts but Doc is going to give us something to make us feel better and mommy and daddy are going to be here the entire time." She kissed the top of her head again and looked at her husband.

"That's right, princess, because being alone when you're sick isn't fun at all." He sat back on the bed leaning against the headboard.

Emma had started to calm down a little but still whimpered. Her nose was getting all stuffy and Snow could tell that it was not something that Emma liked. She reached over and grabbed a hold of a hanky and tried to clean the little girl's nose but she protested. "Come on, Emma, if you let me do this it will let you feel a little better." It took a couple more tries but Emma finally allowed it.

"Our daughter is as stubborn as her mother," Charming chuckled as Snow struggled to clean her daughter's nose.

"Not helping, Charming." She placed the hanky down and let Emma lean into her hold. "See, Emma, isn't that better?" Snow let her fingers run through Emma's growing hair. It didn't take long for Emma to fall asleep in her mother's arms. Even though she was sick she couldn't fight off the sleep that came with her mother's soft and reassuring touch.

"I think she fell asleep," Charming noted.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Snow pulled Emma in closer to her. "And for your earlier comment, I am not stubborn."

"Oh really? Not stubborn?" Charming just gave her a 'seriously' look.

"Ok, fine I might be a little stubborn," she admitted.

"A little?" Charming pushed.

"Ok, you know what? I may be holding our sleeping daughter in my arms but I can still find a way to-" He silenced his stubborn wife with a kiss.

"How's her temperature?" He placed his arm down to see if his daughter's forehead was any cooler.

"Well, at least she's asleep. Maybe she can stay with us tonight?" Snow looked hopefully at her husband. "I know we're working on her being in her nursery and all, but I would feel better knowing that she's close"

"I wouldn't have it any other way." He closed his eyes as he rested his head against the headboard again. "Maybe this was all a trick, maybe Emma just wanted to sleep with us in here again and she's not really sick."

"Honestly, Charming." She shook her head. "Yes, I believe that our one year old daughter is faking her illness all to have her sleep with us again." She rolled her eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

Authors Note: Hey guys, here's another chapter. Hope you enjoy. I have a couple ideas of where I'm going with this, just wondering if you would mind if I went back and did a chapter with pregnant Snow? Reviews and suggestions for ideas are always welcomed. Thanks Guys :)

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Chapter 5

"Emma, come back here!" Snow slowly chased her daughter down the hall.

"No, mommy!" The little girl kept on running until she spotted her father inside the council room and instantly ran to hide behind his legs. "Daddy, help!"

Charming laughed at his daughter's antics. This happened every night. Snow would start getting Emma ready for bed but as soon as the toddler could escape she would run down the hall to prolong going to sleep. "I thought it was bedtime."

"No, Papa!" Emma shook her little head and reached up for him.

"No bedtime?" He tilted his head as he lifted her up. Pushing back her hair from her face, he smiled. "We had a long day today, Em, I think it's bedtime." He rubbed her back and she let out a little yawn. "See, you are tired."

"No," she argued. Boy could his daughter put up a fight when it came to bedtime.

"Emma, are you in here?" Snow walked into the council room to see Emma sitting on her father's lap arguing with him about sleeping. She laughed and leaned against the door frame. "Well, what does Papa think? Bedtime for our little princess?"

"Mama," Emma whined.

"Em, we had a very busy day today, and we have another busy day tomorrow, you need to sleep." Sure, reasoning with a toddler didn't really work, but she had to try.

"How about you go with your Mama and finish getting ready for bed and Mama and I will read you a bedtime story?" Charming looked at Emma who was looking sleepy leaning against him, trying to keep her eyes open to win the bedtime battle.

"Kay." She raised her arms up defeated and Snow picked her up and placed her on her hip. "Sleep with Mama and Papa?" Emma looked up hopefully.

"So this is what it's really about? You want to sleep in our room?" Snow raised her eyebrow. Truth be told, she loved having Emma sleep with her in her room but she didn't want Emma to get too attached and not sleep in her own room alone.

"Mhm." Emma rested her head on Snow's chest and let her fingers catch some of her mother's hair.

"When was the last time she slept in our room?" Snow could already see her husband giving in.

"Last week, I believe."

"See, once a week, that's fine. She sleeps in her room six days and one in ours. I miss my cuddles." Charming gave her puppy eyes.

"Pwease." Emma looked up at her mother with the same puppy eyes as her father.

"Alright, but, Charming, you have to stop giving in so easily," Snow laughed knowing that was never going to happen.

"Yay!" Emma clapped her little hands together.

"So, who is going to join us tonight?" Snow asked as she walked back towards her daughter's room.

"Ulfy, and banky" Emma replied after thinking intensively

"Wolfy and banky? We're going all out tonight aren't we, Em?" Snow laughed as she reached Emma's room and placed her down on the ground. "Alright, go get them and then we are going to wash up in the washroom. I think you still have twigs in your hair from rolling around in the dirt with your father today. The things that man teaches you." Snow got lost in her own thought.

They had gone out for the day to visit Ruth's grave. The family tried to go together at least once a month and Emma loved visiting. Her grave was at the cabin surrounded by flowers and forest and plenty of space for an active toddler to run around. This was a time where the family could just be a family and not have to be the King and the Queen.

Breaking her mother out of her thought, Emma walked back over to her with her arms full of toys. "Mama ready?"

Snow and Emma dropped off her toys in the master bed chamber before heading off to the washroom. Once Snow realized how dirty Emma had really gotten, she took the time to give her daughter a bath. "Did you have fun today, Em?" Emma smiled and nodded her head as Snow rinsed the soap out of her hair. "Do you like visiting Grandma Ruth?" Snow knew that Emma didn't understand the circumstances but she wanted Emma to know how loved she truly was, even before she was even a thought.

"Yes, Mama." Emma smiled and splashed water.

"You know how much it means to your Papa when we go and visit her, right?"

"Means a lot. Papa happy," Emma paused to think, "but Papa cry." She looked worried at her mother.

"Yes, your Papa cries sometimes but it's because he misses her so much and wishes that you and her could play for real together in person." Snow poked her daughter's nose.

"Like Gamma Eva?" Emma tilted her head. She had only ever heard stories about her mother's mother but always loved to hear them. She was a little confused as to why they never visited her like they visited Ruth but she did know how much Snow loved her.

"Yes, like grandma Eva," Snow gave a sad smile.

"Mama sad?" Emma got worried again.

"No, no, I'm fine, baby girl," Snow tried.

"No, mama sad." Emma took her little hand to Snow's cheek to wipe away a tear that had fallen

"I'm a little sad, baby, because I know just like your Grandma Ruth, Grandma Eva would have loved you so much." She kissed Emma's hand as she got her dressed in new clean nightwear. "Now for that hair of yours," Snow started to smile again. Emma's hair reminded her so much of her own. Her mother would always know what to do with it.

"Hair?" Emma felt the top of her head not understanding what was wrong with it. For Emma her hair would be fine if it was sticking out in all directions.

"Yes, Emma, your hair, I think we got all the dirt out but it's all tangled." Snow took a brush and started to comb her hair softly. After a good five minutes Snow had finally gotten every knot out of her hair. Emma's blonde hair went to her shoulders and the wetness was starting to make her shiver a bit.

"Cold, Mama." Emma tried to find warmth in her mother by curling into her.

"Sorry, Em," Snow let out a small chuckle as she wrapped her daughter in a warm towel and led them out of the washroom. The walk back to the room was quiet and Snow could tell that her daughter was getting sleepy. Once they reached Snow and Charming's room, she placed her daughter on the bed next to her wolf and blanket. Emma just sat there, looking a little dazed, obviously still trying to not be sleepy. Snow changed into her sleepwear and walked back towards the bed. "Alright, princess, is it time for bed yet?" Emma nodded knowing that she was too tired to fight it away. "Good, because mama's tired," Snow laughed.

"Papa's tired too." Charming walked into the room and headed towards the wardrobe to get his own sleepwear. Emma smiled and cuddled herself into her mother's arms as they both got comfy under the covers. "May I join?" Charming joked.

"Papa, sleep here," Emma tapped on the empty space on his side of the bed.

Charming climbed in to join his family. He gave his daughter a big kiss. "Goodnight, princess, I love you." He saw her smile.

"Love you, Papa." Emma kissed him back and settled again in her mother's arms. Just as soon as Charming kissed his wife and placed his head on the pillow Emma yawned. "You promised a story," Emma whined.

"Alright, princess, what do you want to hear?" Snow looked at her daughter.

"I dunno, a happy story," Emma shrugged and closed her eyes.

"A happy story. I've got just the one." Charming looked at his wife and she smiled knowing exactly what tale he was about to tell "Once upon a time..."


	6. Chapter 6

Authors Note: Hey everyone, thanks for all the wonderful Reviews, they really keep me going. Here is the next Chapter with a five year old Emma who has a question for her parents. Again Reviews are always appreciated. Thanks guys and enjoy :)

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Chapter 6

"Mama? Papa?" Emma came running into the council room. Her blonde hair loose and showing her natural waves.

"Emma? What are you doing in here?" Both parents shocked to see their daughter who was suppose to be playing with some friends outside.

"I have a question," she got to her point.

"And what would that be my darling?" As Snow sat down next to her husband, she chuckled at her daughter's ability to skip all the small chatter and get directly to the point.

They both watched as the little girl stood by the door obviously trying to figure out how to word her question. It took her to open her mouth before her father decided to speak. "Why don't you come and hop up here." He patted his lap and the little girl ran over and jumped onto his lap while he caught her and set her down. "Alright, now what did you want to ask?" He looked down at Emma, her cheeks turning red.

"Where do babies come from?" Emma looked up at her parents who were both sitting, jaws dropped to the ground and unable to answer her question.

It took a minute or two for Snow to snap out of shock and attempt to answer the question, or at least to speak. "Why would you ask that, Em?" Snow blinked a couple times trying to bring herself back to reality.

"Because someone said that their Mother was having another baby and that it was in her belly, but we don't know how it got there, so I came to ask you. Papa, are you ok?" She looked concerned and as Snow took a look at her husband she knew exactly what he was thinking. Charming was pale, his mouth was open, he couldn't stop blinking and at some moments he would have to remind himself to breathe. Out of everything that went through his mind when his daughter said she had a question, that was not one of them.

"I think your Papa is just thinking of a good answer for you" Snow covered, not knowing how to answer the question herself.

"Uh... ummm... I..." Charming managed to spit out.

"What your father is trying to say is that when two people love each other very much. When the love is pure and true-" Snow started.

"But that doesn't happen until a person is much, much older," Charming chimed in, getting back into his protective Papa bear mode.

"Yes, something that happens when people are much older," Snow laughed and rolled her eyes at her husband.

"OK." The little girls furrowed her brow in thought, not truly understanding the situation and not fully content with what she has so far been told she tries to take it further. "But how does a baby stay is their mama's tummy? Does she eat it?"

Snow tried to hide her laughter, she loved her daughter's imagination so much. "No, baby, a mommy doesn't eat anything in order to have a baby in her tummy. What happens is when you have that true love, and as your father said, when a person is much older..." She took another quick glance at her husband who was getting back some of the colour in his face but was starting to sweat. "It is with that love that a baby is created."

"Ok," Emma started to understand. Snow let out a silent 'Whew' for her victory. "But what does the baby do in the tummy then?" Boy was her daughter full of questions today.

"Well, baby, what happens is the baby will grow inside the belly. There's a special spot inside of the mommy for babies and that's where they stay for 9 months"

"9 months? But how does a baby stay inside for 9 months?" Emma was surprised. She'd seen a baby and was now wondering how that baby fit inside its mother.

"Well, when you were in my tummy I started off like I am now, but when the baby grows the mommy's belly grows as well. So when you made it known that it was your time to enter into this world my tummy was this big so you could have room to grow." Snow held out her hands to show her daughter the size of her pregnant belly. "Do you know how long it took me to walk anywhere or sit down and get up when I got that round." Charming laughed remembering that time well.

"Ok." Emma smiled and blushed. "Thank you, mama." Emma kissed her mother's cheek.

"You're welcome, Princess." Snow took her little face and cupped it with her hands. "You know that you mean the world to us, right?" Emma nodded her head and smiled brightly. "You will always be my baby." Snow gave Emma a kiss on the cheek and nose before Emma managed to hop of her father's lap. Charming was still in shock and Snow could easily tell this was going to hit him more when he could actually speak. "Where do you think you're going, little one?"

"Back outside to play, if that's ok?" Emma batted her eyes at her mother, giving the same face her husband gave her when he wanted something.

"Alright, have fun, but don't get too dirty, your Aunty Red will be over later for some tea." Snow saw the excitement in her daughter rise. Emma loved her Aunty Red and would never miss an opportunity to spend time with her.

"Love you, Mama and Papa." Emma waved at her parents and they both waved back.

"Love you more." Snow smiled as Emma walked out of eyesight and she could hear her footsteps in the hall that made it clear she was running back to join her friends. "Well, that was interesting. How you doing there, Papa?" Snow laughed as Charming came to.

"She's five years old, why is she asking that?" He ran his hands through his hair.

"She's a curious five year old who found out her friend's parents are having a baby and when she realized that she didn't understand how that happened she decided to ask." Snow laughed at her husband's discomfort.

"I wasn't ready for that." He took a deep breath in.

"I could tell." She playfully joked with him as she sat down on his lap. "But that was a good point about being much older, thank you for adding that in." She tried to give her husband some reassurance that he at least helped the conversation a little.

"Well, it's true." He stated "Like I said when she was a baby, not until she's 30 years old."

"Well, as I said before she isn't old enough to even think about that yet. She was just curious as to where they come from. So calm down and stop overthinking this." She patted his arm.

"I'm never going to be able to stop overthinking anything when it comes to our daughter, Snow." He looked up at his wife and gave her that charming smile of his. "She's my baby, I always have to protect her."


	7. Chapter 7

Authors Note: Here is the next chapter, I got it done a little sooner then expected and decided to post it. Let me know what you think. Thanks everyone, hope you enjoy it :)

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Chapter 7

The sky was bright blue and clear, and it was the perfect day for a picnic. Snow has already gotten up, dressed and packed their lunch when she finally decided to wake her husband. In all of this you would think Charming would be the one getting up and doing all the work and Snow would be the one in bed, with her being pregnant and all.

"Charming," she shook her husband who let out a groan in response. "Come on, Charming, wake up!" With that he covered himself with more blanket. "David, you better get up now, we already have one baby on the way and I don't feel like dealing with one right now." It wasn't her fault that she was moody, she was seven months pregnant.

"I'm up. I'm up." He held up his hands in surrender "What will you do when our son feels like sleeping in a little?" He joked as he sat up and let his feet hang off the bed.

"That's different. You are a full grown man about to be a father." She started to try and get off the bed but at the first sign of a struggle her husband was by her side, helping her to her feet. "And your daughter would like you to stop referring to her as a 'him', she doesn't appreciate it."

"You have your thoughts about what this little baby will be, so, I have mine." He placed his hand over Snow's growing belly and smiled as he felt a kick. "See, he agrees that his father should have an opinion."

"No, she's telling her Papa that he should listen to her mother," she laughed as she gave him a small peck.

"What are our plans for the day?" He decided to change the subject. In the back of his mind he knew that his wife was right and that they were having a little girl, but he's put up enough of a fight now that he didn't want to just give in.

"It's nice outside, so I've decided that we would go for a picnic, just the two, well, three of us." She rubbed her tummy.

"That sounds wonderful." He smiled and walked over to get dressed "What should I prepare for the trip?" He tried to get his leg into his pants.

"I've got it all ready to go." She looked at him knowing she would get in trouble for working when she should have been taking it easy.

"Snow!" He sighed. "You promised that you would relax and not over work yourself now that we've got less than two months left." He finally got his shirt on and moved over to take Snow's hands in his.

"Charming, it's just some small preparations. It's not like I went hunting and killed the meat myself." She rolled her eyes at his concern.

"I don't care, Snow, I don't want anything to happen to you or our baby. I love you both so much." He blushed knowing that he was sounding a little sappy.

"I love you for caring so much, Charming. But I would never do anything to put our child in danger. If anything, not doing anything will drive me crazy and in turn will drive the baby crazy, so, mama is going to do what she wants to do. Got it?" She laughed as he nodded his head in full understanding. She knew he wasn't going to stop worrying or stop trying to do everything for her but she loved him, and it made her happy to see how much he cared for her and their baby.

"Shall we head out to our destination then?" Charming asked with a smile and moved towards the door and Snow followed. "After you, my lady." He held out his arm signaling for her to go first and was taken aback when she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. "What's the matter?" No reply. "Snow, are you alright?"

She turned back to face him and blushed. "I think have to pee again. I'll be a minute." She rushed back to the washroom as her husband laughed. "Not funny, Charming. You try having a baby who thinks your bladder is a squeeze toy."

"It's not that." He tried to reassure her. "It's the not knowing part."

"Well, isn't that a lovely way to treat your pregnant wife?" She disappeared into the washroom. A couple minutes later she returned to find her husband sitting on the bed waiting for her. "You could have gone down."

"And who would help you down the stairs?"

"And who would help me down the stairs?" She mocked him under her breath.

"Oh, feeling a little pissy this morning aren't we?" Charming laughed and realized that it might have not been the best thing to do when he felt a light smack on his arm. "Sorry."

"Apology accepted." She walked in front of him leaving him in the door way. She kept on walking till she realized that he wasn't behind her so she spun around "Well are you coming? Or are you just going to stand there all day?"

"I was giving you your space."

"I thought you were going to help me down the stairs," she joked back at him. They both laughed for a moment and she looked back up at her husband who was now standing beside her. "But seriously, it took me forever to walk down the stairs this morning." He knew that she wasn't lying. At the beginning of this pregnancy she was so strict about doing everything on her own that when it came to the point that she needed to ask for help she hesitated.

"Anything for you, my love." He gave her a small kiss and helped her walk down the stairs, holding onto her arm.

"You know," Snow stopped a moment for a breather, "maybe we should start training you to walk up and down the stairs with all the baby equipment."

"Oh, really? I need to be trained?" He pretended to be hurt. "And who says you won't be the one carrying the baby equipment, while I carry the baby?"

"Hey, maybe you'll get her after a while, but after carrying her for 9 months, having her inside me, being a part of one another, I think I'm going to have a hard time letting go and being separated." She admitted and blushed, but she was right. She was carrying this precious life, she could already feel some mama bear coming out of her.

"What about me? I helped make her." He fake-pouted.

"Yes, and I remembered to thank you every time I ran to the washroom to get sick during the first three months." She rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I can recall it went something like "I hate you" and "What have you done to me?" and "This is all your fault", well, at least that's what I heard over all the umm...disposing of your meal?" At least he tried to make it sound nicer than the other words.

"I think you heard right." She laughed. "But then again, I love you for doing this to me. Charming we're going to have a baby soon. A little baby made from our love running through these halls. Giving us heart attacks, making us smile." She could only imagine what it would be like, but she knew it would be wonderful. Once they reached the bottom of the staircase Snow placed her hand on her belly and laughed. "I think she's a kicker, keep that in mind when you're changing the diapers."

"Again with the 'you'? Why am I on diaper duty?"

"Because you love me." She kissed him and started to waddle towards the carriage that was waiting for them outside.

"That I do, and I have a feeling that our daughter is going to be the same way as you," he smiled.

"oh yeah? and what is that?" She pocked her head out of the window.

"Just as lovely and wonderful as her mother, with me wrapped around her finger."

"Oh you know it. She'll have the best teacher." It took her a while to register that he had admitted that they were going to have a girl. She turned to him, "you said 'daughter'."

"I said what?" He was caught. He hadn't even caught himself saying it.  
"That we were having a girl." She rubbed her belly again feeling the movement of their daughter making her presence known.

"I never said that it was this baby. I said our daughter. It could be the next one." He tried to cover it up but he knew that he didn't.

"You think she's a girl." Now Snow was being the child.

"Can you just relax?" He tried to change the subject "Maybe take a little nap until we arrive?" Knowing he wouldn't let this go Snow just gave him a small nod and a yawn. Oh he knew her so well. She rested her head on his lap as he stroked her hair back knowing that this would make her calm down. Once he thought that his wife was asleep he moved his hand protectively over her belly "You know, princess, you already have me wrapped around your finger and you're not even here yet." He smiled as he felt a little kick. "I love you too, princess." He gently rubbed her belly and let his head fall back and closed his eyes feeling his daughter's movements.

Snow, who was still awake, smiled. She would let this one pass but she was sooooo going to milk the being right part later.


	8. Chapter 8 - part 1

Authors Note: Hey all. Thank you for all the reads and reviews! Here is the next chapter. Part 1 of 2 and I hope you like it. I know some people have been asking for more Charming and Emma time :) Don't forget to let me know what you think, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks :)

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Chapter 8, part 1

"Papa! Papa!" was all Charming had to hear for him to shoot out of bed. His eyes barely opened as he ran towards the door of his bedchamber and ended up colliding with his daughter. "Papa," cried Emma, and within a couple of seconds Charming had his daughter in his arms.

"What happened, Princess?" He rubbed her back and she instantly grabbed hold of her father as if she feared he would leave. "Shh, Em, it's ok. Papa's here," he whispered into her hair as she buried herself into his shoulder. He could feel her shaking and her sobbing slowly turning into a light cry. "Why don't we sit down so we can talk?" He felt Emma nod so he slowly walked over and sat down on the bed. "It's alright, I'm not going to leave, ok?" He pushed some of the hair that fell in her face behind her ears. After a moment of sitting and waiting for his daughter to calm down he spoke again "Why don't you tell me what happened?"

"Bad dream, bad, bad, dream," she said quietly as she cleared away some of her tears.

"What happened in this bad dream to get you so upset?" He looked at his daughter but she wasn't going to answer him. "Emma, I need to know what happened so I know how to help you."

"Mama doesn't make me say what happened," she argued, and at that moment Charming knew that this was going to be a long night.

"Yes, but your mother isn't here at the moment, and Papa wants to know what happened." When Emma would have a nightmare or a bad dream it usually took both of her parents to calm her down enough to fall back asleep. But with Snow away it was only him tonight.

"It was scary," she whispered.

"Here, you know what we are going to do?" Charming looked down at his daughter and whipped away some of her new tears.

"Candle?" It was something that her father always did for her.

"Yes." Charming paused for a moment debating if he should carry Emma with him to get the candle or if he should leave her on the bed, with his movement to stand up he felt Emma's grip tighten and decided that leaving her on the bed would not work. "All right, here we go." Charming got up slowly from the bed and walked towards the candle. Once he reached the candle, he made his way back quickly towards the bed a placed the candle on the night stand to light it. Emma looked up at the glowing candle, watching the light seemed the calm her down and she snuggled herself back into her father. "Now, you want to talk about what happened in your dream?" He tried again and felt her sigh and knew that he had won.

"I was with you and mama and we were having fun and then someone came in and hurt you and mama, they hurt you really, really bad. I kept on calling out for you but your eyes stayed closed and then they were taking me away and I woke up." She started to sniff again, clearly the nightmare having its effect on her again.

"Well, princess, that is a really bad dream." He could only see worry in her eyes, then an idea came to mind. He got up onto his feet and smiled. "But look, I'm here and I'm not hurt at all." Charming did a little dance to show that he was fine and unharmed.

Emma let out a little giggle at her father's silliness. Once her father was back on the bed, Emma quickly found comfort sleeping on his chest with her head in the crook of his neck. "Mhm," she softly agreed.

"And you're right here with me and no one will ever take you away from me, we always find each other." He smiled remembering his wife.

"Like mama?"

"Yeah, exactly like your mama." He could feel her breathing even out and took this as a small victory. "And you know that I will never let anything happen to you, I will always protect you," he assured her.

"Promise?"

"I promise, now, I'm guessing that you would like to spend the rest of the night in here?"

"Is that alright?"

"Are you kidding me? I was going to come and get you, I was getting lonely in here all by myself." He looked around the room, it was times like these when Snow was away that he realized how big the place truly was.

"Papa?"

"Yes, Em?"

"In my dream you were using a sword."

"Was I now?" Once of his eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, can you teach me how to do that? So I can protect you and mama too!"

"We can ask your mother about that. I'm not so sure if you're ready for that yet."

"But, Papa, I'm 5. I'm old enough," she held up five fingers. "Please." Wow this conversation has done two things: one, it had made her forget that she was just terrified, and two, it has made her wide awake.

"I promise that we can ask your mother as soon as she gets home." Charming starts to rub circles on Emma's back hoping that it would make her want to sleep again (it did always work when Snow did it). "You want to hear a secret?" He changed the subject.

"Oooo, yeah! I love secrets!" Emma yawned, the rubbing on her back clearly working.

"I've had a lot of fun these past couple of days with just the two of us. I like spending all this time with you rather than doing all my boring work." They had done so much together in the past couple of days that he thought he would be locked up in his office for days with the amount of work that he would have to catch up on.

"Me too, Papa." She smiled and started to close her eyes.

"Do you think that we should show mama our new place?" The day before the two of them decided it would be fun to just explore around the forest and came across a beautiful waterfall, where they spent the afternoon swimming and playing. They had gone there again that day, it was their spot no one knew about, where they could just have fun with no worries about anything else.

"No, Papa. That's our spot," she giggled.

"Really? What if Mama's really good, then can we tell her?" It wasn't that he didn't want a secret place with his daughter, it was that it was such a beautiful place that he wanted to share it with his entire family.

"Maybe," Emma stated. "I'm glad you didn't go with Mama." Her arms wrapped around him as he could feel her sleepiness starting to take over.

"And leave you all by yourself here? No way!" It was something that both Snow and Charming had agreed on when Emma was born. Neither liked being far away from their daughter, so if they had trips that would last more than one or two nights where they couldn't bring Emma, one parent would stay behind. To be perfectly honest the conversations usually consisted of both parents arguing why the other should go and why they should stay.

"I love you, Papa." Her eyes finally closed and her breathing evened out. No more worries about what happened last time she had closed her eyes. She felt protected and safe.

"I love you too, princess. More than you'll ever know." He kissed the top of her head and closed his own eyes, giving himself a mental pat on the back for concurring this nightmare on his own.


	9. Chapter 8 - part 2

Authors Note: Here is part 2. I couldn't help myself and needed to write one with Snow and Emma. Hope you enjoy. Reviews are loved :) Thanks guys and enjoy.

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Chapter 8, part 2

She didn't hear any cries but she knew something was wrong. Before she could even second guess her instincts, Snow was out of bed and walking towards her daughter's room. Once she got closer to the room she could hear small cries, it only made her move faster and faster until she opened Emma's door. Emma was still sleeping but tears were streaming down her face, she kept on quietly saying something that Snow couldn't make out. Worried about what was happening to her daughter, Snow found herself sitting on the bed and stroking her daughter's hair. "Em, wake up," she whispered softly trying to wake her daughter gently. Emma's cries only continued and Snow tried again. "Emma, honey, wake up." She shook her a little and the little girl's eyes shot wide opened.

"Mama!" she cried and fell into her mother's awaiting arms saying, "mama," over and over again.

"Shhh, it's ok, mama's here." She rocked her back and forth and let Emma's cries die down. "You're alright now. Nothing is going to happen," she found herself whispering reassuring words into Emma's ear.

"It was so scary," Emma mumbled as Snow brushed away some of the tears.

"I know, baby, but you're fine. It was just a bad dream."

"But it felt so real." Emma's eyes started to water again and Snow took her into a hug.

"I know, sometimes that happens, but then we wake up and we realize that it was only in our sleep." Snow herself knew all too well about nightmares. Not only was she trapped in that glass room while under the sleeping curse which led her to being in that fire room, but when Emma was born she would have nightmares of her baby being taken away from her.

"Mama, I don't want to go back to sleep."

Snow took a minute weighting the options in her mind of what to do and how to handle this situation. "Alright, well, we have a couple of options that you can choose from." Emma leaned back to look into her mother's eyes. "Option number one, we can go and make some hot cocoa and then come back here and I'll watch over you as you sleep. Another option could be that we read a little before going back to sleep. Or our last option is that we can go and make some hot cocoa, and then come back and we can read and I'll watch over you as you sleep."

"But I don't want to go to sleep," Emma said again, not backing down.

"Alright. So we can either read, or go get some hot cocoa to calm us down." Snow was starting to like the idea of the hot cocoa herself.

"Can we stop by your room on the way if we get some cocoa?" Emma asked a little embarrassed.

"Of course we can." Snow was getting the hint of what Emma's nightmare had been about. When she had returned home from her last trip her husband had informed her of Emma's nightmare. Neither of them felt right knowing that their daughter had had a dream where she had watched her father get so hurt that he was dying and that she was being pulled away from her parents. "If you want to we can even wake your Papa up." Snow thought maybe seeing her father awake might ease her fears.

"No, that's alright," Emma responded by taking her 'banky' in her hands and was about to stand up when she felt a sudden need to be as close to her mother as possible.

As if Snow could understand her daughter's thoughts she stood up and readjusted so that Emma was sitting on her hip and her arms holding on around Snow's neck. Suddenly Emma had dropped her baby blanket on the floor and fear took over her again. "Shhh, Em, it's ok, look," Snow leaned down to pick up the fallen blanket and handed it right back to her small daughter. "See? Right where it's supposed to be." Emma smiled a little which led Snow to let out a bigger smile.

The two found themselves standing outside of Snow and Charming's room. The door had been left wide open and Snow let out a small laugh realizing she forgot to close it with her worries about Emma. Charming was sleeping soundly in his spot, snoring and all. Emma let out a small reassuring sigh as she saw her father was all right. Snow could feel her daughter's worries wash away and it made Snow finally breath out that breath she was holding, hoping that this was all Emma would need to fall back asleep. "Can we get the hot cocoa now?" Snow could only laugh at how fast her daughter could change from being completely terrified to being back to her happy little self.

"Why, of course," she simply replied. For a moment Snow debated whether it would be best to set her daughter back down on the ground or to stay in the arms of her mother. The decision was made for her when Emma rested her head in the crook of her mother's neck and hugged her tight. Snow replied with a simple kiss to Emma's head and started walking towards the kitchen. Emma would wave to the night guards as they passed, letting out a smile every once in a while to those she remembered. Once they reached the kitchen, Snow placed Emma down on the counter and started to prepare their favorite drink. By the time the drinks were ready, Snow could tell that Emma was starting to get a little tired. "How about we finish these and then go to bed?" But before Emma could protest Snow continued, "I know it might be a little scary to think that if you close your eyes the same thing will happen, but it won't because I'll be there watching over you." Snow could see that is what her daughter needed to hear. "And I'll tell you what else. You can either choose to sleep with your papa and I, or you and I can sleep in your bedroom."

Emma sat sipping her drink. She was obviously weighing her options, something that Snow found adorable to watch. Sure Emma loved sleeping in her own bed, and it was just the right size to fit her and her mother, but at the same time she loved being able to cuddle up into her mother and feel that her father was also right there with her. She liked being able to wake up in the morning feeling surrounded by her parents but then she also loved to wake up in the morning to a room full of her stuffed animals to talk to about her dreams and what had happened. "Can we sleep in your bed?" she finally decided.

"Yes, we can." Snow hid a small laugh. Never has her daughter chosen her own room over her parents, when given the option. The two finished up their drinks and Emma watched as her mother cleaned up the small mess that they had made. Sooner than she thought, Emma was back in her mother's arms and they were off to bed. They entered the room quietly and Emma let out small giggles here and there at her father's snoring. Snow tucked them both into bed and she kissed the crown of her daughter's head. "I love you, Emma, and I'll always be here to protect you."

"I love you too, Mama." Emma smiled as she cuddled her way into her mother's side. "And I protect you toooo." Emma leaned up to her mother and gave her a small kiss on the cheek. Snow then wrapped her arms around her daughter pulling her in closer to her, rubbing soft circles on Emma's back.

"Now close your eyes and sleep. Don't worry, nothing bad will happen to you," Snow whispered into Emma's ear. And with that, Emma closed her little eyes, with her mother's arms around her, and she fell back asleep with a smile.


	10. Chapter 9

Authors Note: Hey guys. I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update. School, work and homework have dominated my life lately. I'm going to try to be better. Anyways here's the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy. The next couple chapters are written, they just need to be edited. Thank you for all the lovely reviews, follows, and reads :)

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Chapter 9

"Snow, what on earth are you doing?" Snow turned her head slightly and saw her husband resting against the door frame.

"I'm waiting," Snow replied and turned her attention back to her growing belly.

"Waiting for what, dear?"

"A kick," she says a little frustrated, her patience growing thin.

"You've been waiting for a kick for the past week Snow. The baby will kick when it wants to kick." He walked over to grab Snow's shall. "And if you keep on waiting for the baby to kick and keep on watching it, it won't."

"Can you stop calling our baby 'it' please, it's getting annoying," Snow huffed and didn't budge.

"When I refer to the baby as a 'he', you get angry," Charming stated, bringing the shall back over to Snow and covering her shoulders.

"Then don't refer to the baby as a 'he', it's that simple."

"So, I'm not allowed to call the baby 'it' or 'he'. That leaves 'baby', and 'she', or 'her'." Charming started to think about his options. "You're still dead set that it's going to be a girl."

"Charming!"

"Sorry, you're still dead set that the baby is going to be a girl." He caught his mistake and quickly changed it.

"Thank you. And yes I do." She looked back down at her belly. "Come on, kick. Let me know you're in there." Charming laughed at his wife's impatience, not out loud, he didn't want to risk getting yelled at or anything, pregnancy hormones scared him a little.

"Now, I know you're plenty busy waiting for the baby to kick, and I know I've told you that you're not allowed to ride your horse, but I was thinking that we could go to the stables and spend time with the horses?" Charming looked cautiously at his wife. Once the pregnancy was revealed, Charming had a slight issue with what was safe for Snow to do and what wasn't. Let's just say the list of unsafe things was a lot longer than the safe list.

"That would be nice." Snow rubbed her belly. "Hmm, what do you say? Should we go and visit the horses?" She again looked at her belly hoping to get a kick as an answer. She gave it a couple second until she sighed.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Charming tried to guess the answer.

"Yeah, let's go." Snow propped herself up and then realized that she was wearing her shall. "When did I put this on?"

"I put it on when I came in," he chuckled. "You were really giving the baby all your attention there." He placed his hand protectively over his wife's belly and gave her a quick kiss.

"Oh, well, thank you." She kissed him back and took his hand.

They walked into the stables and right away Snow could see her horse stick its head out of the stall. Snow smiled at her horse's excitement realizing that her own excitement was growing as well. Charming went to the stall across from Snow and as she opened the door and was greeted by her anxious horse. "It's nice to see you too girl." Snow gave her a nice pat. Once Snow was fully into the stall, she gave the horse's muzzle a kiss. "Now, how about we make you all shiny? Hmm, Casiella?" Cas responded by licking Snow's hand. "Oh, you want a treat?" Snow giggled and looked around to make sure no one saw. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a sugar cube.

Snow took the brushes out and started to groom Cas. As she would run through the motions she could only think of doing this to her daughter's hair, brushing it, combing it. She got lost in thought wondering what kind of hair her daughter would have. It would definitely be like her wavy hair, that wasn't even a question. Her mother had the same type of hair, and same with her grandmother. She thought, _would her hair dark be like mine_? _Or maybe blonde like her Papa's? _She just laughed and walked over to the other side but stopped and twirled Cas' mane. "We're going to have so much fun. Me, you, and Emma. I'm thinking that you're going to love her as much as you do me, and I think she's going to love you just the same." Snow placed another kiss on Cas' face and the horse moved her head down and rested her nose on Snow's belly. "I promise I'll come and visit more often. And once Emma's here, we can go for a little ride. I've missed riding." Snow patted the horse and moved to groom the other side. It didn't take long for Snow to get pulled into thoughts about her daughter when she felt something. She came back to reality and rested her hand on her stomach and paused. Cas turned her head to look at Snow confused about why the grooming had stopped. After a few second she felt it again. "Charming!"

"Snow, is everything alright?" Charming ran into the stall and looked at his wife, her hand on her stomach and a smile across her face.

"She kicked!" Snow said proudly.

"The baby kicked?!" Charming rushed to her side, giving Cas a pat, and placed both hands next to Snow's. "I don't feel anything," he said disappointed.

"Hold on. Give the baby a minute," she laughed

"Come on baby, kick for Papa," he begged. Snow looked over at Cas who was watching both humans, trying to understand what was really going on. "I felt that! Did you feel that?" he exclaimed. He tried to move his hands to a different spot on the belly trying to feel more movement.

"Yes, yes I did, Charming." Snow smiled and looked down at Charming who was kneeling on the floor. She ran her fingers through his hair to get his attention and he looked up.

"The baby kicked," he said proudly and turned his attention back to his wife's stomach. "You're really in there aren't you?" He smiled and gave Snow's stomach a quick kiss before getting back up on his feet to kiss his wife, his hands still over the belly. He looked at Snow and his smile turned into a smirk.

"What?" she questioned, tilting her head in confusion.

"I told you this morning that the baby wouldn't kick if you kept on watching and waiting for it." He kissed her cheek.

"Yes, you did." She scrunched up her face to act annoyed. After a few minutes passed feeling the kicks Snow looked back at her horse who was just eating calmly from her food bin. After one final kick Snow took her husband's face into her hands and laughed. "Now that last kick was a "papa, go groom your horse so mama can finish with hers", I think."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going." He kissed her cheek. "But don't think that because I'm going away now that my hands won't be glued to your stomach later." He walked out of the stall and into his own.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Snow rolled her eyes and felt another kick. "We're going to have our hands full with this one," she said to herself laughing, as she rubbed her belly and returned to Cas.

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**Hope you enjoyed the chapter :) next one will be up soon, maybe by the end of the weekend. Reviews are always loved! :)**


	11. Chapter 10

Authors Note: Hey guys! I'm so sorry it took me so long to update. I've just had finals in school, but the good news is that school is done and I can get more chapters up and faster. Hope you enjoy :)

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Chapter 10

Snow was walking through the garden, looking at the trees that surrounded it. It looked like a mini forest. She could almost hear Emma's laughter and it made her smile until she realized that it was actually Emma laughing. She turned her head to the sound and followed it until she reached a tree. All of a sudden Snow went still in fear. "Emma, what on earth are you doing? Come down before you get hurt!" she cried, as she watched her daughter climbing a tree. A tree, that Snow felt, was much too big for her six year old to be climbing.

"But Papa's been teaching me! I'm ok, Mama," Emma tried to reassure her mother as she continued to climb the tree.

"Emma Ruth!" she said again, but her daughter didn't listen and kept on climbing up the tree until the leaves made her vanish.

"Come on, Snow." She looked around at the familiar voice trying to find its owner, but couldn't. She then heard his laughter, which was clearly directed at her search to locate him. "Maybe looking up would help."

Snow lifted her head to the tree and saw her husband's head popping out from the leaves, watching her. "What are you thinking, David?! She could get hurt!"

"She's alright, I'm here Snow." He chuckled and disappeared back into the tree.

Still looking at the spot she last saw her husband, she continued speaking, "What are you doing up there, anyways?" The worry in her voice started to fade into a more curious one.

"A fort!" Emma yelled. Snow could hear from Emma's tone that she was excited and happy. Snow let out a smile when she saw her daughter pop her head out in the same spot her husband had.

"A fort?" Snow lifted a brow and smirked.

"Yeah, Mama. A really, really cool fort!" Emma giggled as she vanished into the tree, and then almost as quickly as she disappeared, she stuck her head back out. "Come up and see it, Mama!"

"Climb up the tree, to see your fort?" Snow looked at her daughter who just nodded her head in return and disappeared back into the tree. Snow took a look down at her clothing and thanked the fact that she was in her riding clothes. (She was trying to find Emma so they could spend the afternoon riding, but this would be just as much fun).

"But if you choose to come up, you're not allowed to worry," Snow heard her husband say. Snow rolled her eyes and started to climb up the tree. When she reached the fort she could see that this wasn't a project that they had just started. No, this was something that has been going on for a while.

Emma ran to her mother and Snow pulled her into a tight hug. "What do you think, Mama? It's cool isn't it?" Emma looked up at her mother with her wide green eyes and smiled.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool." Snow pocked Emma's nose. "How long have you two been doing this?" She walked around the base.

"Maybe a couple of weeks," Charming admitted and could tell that wasn't something she wanted to hear.

"WEEKS?" Snow was stunned. Emma had only turned six last week and she was a small six year old.

"Yes, Snow. This was one of her birthday presents," he tried to reason with her.

"You let our five year old daughter, at the time, climb up this tree?"

"Snow, it's not like she's grown in the past couple weeks."

"HEY!" They both turned to see their daughter a little upset. On her birthday everyone had told her that she was much taller than she was when she was five.

"I mean, she's not that much taller," Charming corrected himself and Emma gave her nod of approval.

"Charming, I know it might sound like I'm being overprotective, but this tree is still far too tall and big for her to climb. The smaller ones I don't mind, but this one, the branches are far apart and it's hard for her to reach them." She tried to keep her voice down not wanting to upset her daughter.

"Snow," Charming bent down to be at eye level with his wife " Emma only started coming up here last week."

"What?"

"Yeah, Mama." Emma walked towards them. "This was my present from Papa. He showed it to me on my birthday and we've been working on it together ever since."

"I know she's little but I watch her climb up and down. She's been climbing things since she's learnt how to walk Snow. She's safe up here."

"So she's never gotten hurt?" Snow questioned.

"Emma, have you ever gotten hurt up here?" Charming looked down at his daughter who shook her head. "See, safe as can be. And we've had lots of fun."

"Oh you have, have you? Fun without me?" Snow trapped her daughter in a hug and started to tickle her.

"Yes, the same way you have your tea parties and other things." Charming laughed at his daughter who was struggling to get out of her mother's grasp.

"Mama, stop!" Emma squealed in a fit of laughter.

After a couple of minutes Snow finally stopped and took Emma into a hug, letting her daughter calm down. "I do have to say that you've done a good job building this." Snow gazed around at the fort.

"Thank you," the father and daughter said in unison.

"Alright, should we get back to work?" Snow looked at Emma, whose eyes grew with excitement.

"Yeah! And I can teach you Mama! Just like Papa's teaching me and Geppetto taught him!" Emma jumped and pulled her mother with her.

"Good, because I don't know much about building. That's always been your father's thing." She winked at her daughter.

"That's true," Emma responded and looked back up at her father. "Papa's the bestest. Well, I have to say that Geppetto is the best but you know what I mean." Emma gave Charming an apologetic look and returned her focus towards her mother.

They spent the afternoon playing and building. Once the building was done for the day, Snow thought of a fun idea. "What if we bring up some things and have a tea party up here?"

"That would be sooo much fun, Mama!" Emma jumped a little at the idea.

"If you would like, we can head back to the castle and you can grab a couple of friends to join us, while I prepare the tea," Snow suggested, it took no time at all for Emma to attempt to climb down the tree.

"Hold on there, princess," Charming stopped his daughter. "I know we have a rule that ladies go first but what's our rule when climbing down the tree?"

"Papa goes first so he can make sure that I don't slip while climbing down." Emma rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed.

Snow hid her laughter. Her daughter did always like being independent and setting rules for her didn't always go well.

Once the family had made it back up to the fort, Charming was about to leave again to allow the mother and daughter some time alone. "Papa? Where are you going?" Emma asked curiously, hoping that he wasn't leaving.

Charming turned around to face his daughter, who had her Wolf sitting next to her on one side and her Dolly sitting on the other. "I was going to go back and maybe start on some work."

"No, you're going to sit down and join us for our tea party." Emma furrowed her brow.

"Em, I do have a lot of work to get done."

"Please, Papa. Please stay for my tea party." Emma gave him the puppy dog eyes and he knew he couldn't say no to that.

"Yeah, Papa," Snow mimicked her daughter. "Please stay. You make tea parties oh so much fun"

"Ok, no teaming up on me, that's not fair," he whined, but the puppy eyes didn't stop. He sighed and took his seat next to Emma's dolly and before he could even get comfortable, Emma's arms were wrapped around his neck.

"Thank you, Papa." She smiled and gave his cheek a quick kiss before returning to her own spot.

"Anything for my princess." He took a sip of his tea and looked at his wife who gave him a smirk.

"I do love this fort. I'm thinking we should do this more often!" Snow noted.

"Oooo, yes it would be so much fun!" Emma responded "Now pinkies up!" Emma said and the family clanked their tea cups together and laughed.

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Note: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you thought :) Thanks :)


	12. Chapter 11

Authors Note: Hey everyone, sorry that I took so long to update. First off I just wanted to thank you for all the follows, favourite and reviews. I hope to update more frequently once I get back from vacation. If you guys have any idea's on chapter's that you want me to write let me know because I'm suffering a case of writers block. Hope you enjoy the chapter :)

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Chapter 11

Emma sat at the table in the War Council room. Her books open in front of her, her brow furrowed in confusion. It wasn't until she heard her parents walking down the corridor that she pulled her book closer and turned it to the last page, as if she had been reading and studying with no problems the entire morning. She was told to finish today's studies before she could do the "fun" lessons ,with her parents, in the afternoon.

"Well, look who we found," she heard her father say as he entered the room. "Studying hard?" Emma nodded her head, hoping that her parents wouldn't see that she was slightly confused about her studies.

"What are you studying this morning, baby?" Snow lifted her daughter out of the chair to sit on her lap. Snow then started to play with one of Emma's loose curls.

"Just the usual," Emma replied, trying to shrug it off, as she closed her book.

"Eh, eh," Charming stopped her, obviously seeing her plan. Emma tried to give him the innocent eyes.

"Yes, Papa?" She blinked her eyes, trying to use her cuteness against him, something that almost always worked. All except when it came to her studies. He was adamant about her lessons. He wasn't so fortunate growing up, so he wanted her to have all she could.

"What are you studying today?" he asked, repeating his wife's question, knowing very well that his six year old daughter would know not to ignore the question this time around.

Emma slouched into her mother, defeated. "I was told that I had to do two studies this morning: grammar, which I finished earlier, and now I'm told to do history."

"And let me guess, you're having a little trouble with your history work?" Snow wrapped her arms around Emma, pulling her daughter a little closer and at the same time opening the book.

"Just a little bit... but.. Papa, I've been studying all morning. My brain can't hold any more information." The little girl threw her hand in the air in frustration.

"Calm down, Princess." Charming kneeled next to his wife and daughter. "Why didn't you come to us when you weren't understanding your lesson? Or go and ask your teacher?"

"Because, Papa, I didn't want to. I like when I can sit here and study with no one watching everything I read or write, and not asking me questions every couple of minutes about the work that I have yet to start."

"Now, who does that?" Snow questioned. Whenever her daughter would study with her, Snow would make sure that she let her daughter work independently unless Emma asked for help.

"Not you, mama," Emma reassured her mother and turned her head to her father and pointing at him, making it clear who she was speaking about. Charming mocked hurt at his daughter's accusations.

Snow just laughed at both her daughter and husband before she placed a kiss on Emma's head. "Well, would you like us to help you now that we are here?" Snow waited until Emma looked up at her and nodded. "Well, alright then, Princess, let's get to work, hmm?" Snow pulled the book closer and turned it to the page that was bookmarked.

"So, what are we learning in History?" Charming pulled up a chair and sat down next to Snow and Emma.

"Looks like we are learning about our family." Snow hid a giggle, understanding why her six year old daughter was having a problem with this lesson. She always hated learning these lessons herself when she was a child.

Emma sighed. "Actually, I've been asked to make a family tree. So I've been given books on our family to study and learn about them."

"I understand, I had to do a similar project when I was your age." Snow ran her fingers through her daughter's hair. "So, you've been studying about the family?" Emma nodded at her mother. "Alright, then why don't you tell us what you know, and then we can continue and help you from there."

Emma sighed and turned the the book back to the first page. "I know grandpa Leo and I know grandma Eva, and I know each of their parents before them. I know that grandpa was the oldest of his three siblings and therefore he was given the throne from his father. Grandma Eva was an only child and married grandpa because she was the princess of the Northern Kingdom. Grandpa and grandma had mama, and mama was an only child." Emma finished. Snow was proud to learn that her daughter was learning of her family. If only Emma would have gotten to meet them, then she could know so much more. "But when grandma passed away, grandpa went looking for another bride, and that is when he married Regina." Emma continued.

"Do you remember why he decided that he would marry Regina?" Snow asked, wanting her daughter to know some of the good in Regina.

"Yes, because she saved you when your horse spooked," Emma spoke proud.

"That is correct." Snow pocked her daughter's nose, and in return Emma let out a giggle. "Is that all you remember?" Snow asked and Emma just shook her head.

"No, mama. I know some of Papa's side, but that's where I started to have questions. " Emma turned to the pages that started to show her father's side of the family.

"What's so confusing about my side of the family? Your mother's side has all those titles and names of places they've come from," Charming started to get defensive, and this was true, his family didn't have nearly as many titles and people.

Emma giggled. "Papa, I don't need to learn the names of kingdoms and all the titles at this very moment. I've been told just to learn about the family history. My teacher said that will be later on...and Papa," She stopped and raised her eyebrow at him, "I never said that your side was confusing. I said that is where I started to have questions." Emma replied and gave her father a look, a look that Charming took as a 'Challenge me' look.

"What can you tell me about my side of the family then?" Charming challenged Emma back.

"I know that grandpapa came from a family where both of his parents were shepherds, and I know that grandma Ruth's mother was a seamstress and her father was a..." she paused, trying so hard not to look at her book. Charming was about to help her but she held out her hand in protest. "No, Papa, I can do this. Just let me remember." Her father smirked at her determination, something he was very proud of, and something she inherited from her mother. "He was a carpenter, like Geppetto," she stated and smiled when her father gave her a nod.

"Very good, Princess." Charming kissed the top of her head, and looked to his wife who was smiling down at her daughter. "It seems that you know a lot, so what's your question"

"Well, Papa, you had a brother. James. Would I call him Uncle James? Or would that be just James? Because even though he was your brother you never knew him. But auntie Red isn't mama's real sister, but she's still my aunt. And Granny isn't my grandma but I still call her Granny." Emma looked confused at her parents.

"Well, everyone calls Granny, Granny. Your Auntie Red, she's like my sister and we've been through a lot together, so in our eyes we consider each other sisters." Snow pointed out trying to explain to her daughter.

"But what about James?" Emma questioned again, clearly sounding annoyed that her original question had yet to be answered.

"Well, Emma," Charming took a pause trying to figure out the best way to explain. Yes, when Emma was younger they had told her about his brother and her grandparents but at the time, she was never able to fully understand the situation. "My brother and I never really met. We knew each other briefly when we were born, but as you know, we were then separated."

"Yes, and he went to King George and his wife."

"And you know that King George isn't a very nice man. James seemed to take after him and he let his ego get the best of him."

"But that doesn't mean that he was evil. I know that King George was evil, he wanted both you and Mama dead... but James didn't do anything that bad. Right? He wasn't as evil as King George, right?" Emma looked at both her parents, and could see that they were hiding something. "What? What did he do?"

"That is a story for another day, Princess." Charming patted Emma's leg and looked back to his wife who gave him a gentle nod.

"This isn't fair," Emma huffed and crossed her arms.

"Well, Em, that story has no relevance with todays lesson," As Emma was about to interrupt Snow continued, "but when the time comes, I'm sure your father will tell you about it." Snow reasoned and giggled at her daughter's pout.

"Alright," Emma groaned. "But you still never answered my original question. Should I call him Uncle or not," Emma argued.

"It's up to you. It wouldn't bother me if you did, or if you didn't," Charming answered her.

"Thank you." Emma lowered her head and rolled her eyes. She didn't want to study anymore, she wanted to go outside and have fun.

"You seem to get everything so far. Is there any other questions that you would like to ask?" Snow took it upon herself to finish up the lesson. She could feel that Emma was starting to drift off and she knew once Emma lost her focus on this, it would take them a while to get her back.

"I... I don't know." Emma sat for a moment confused and going over everything in her mind. "I guess I just needed to say it out loud to someone in order to know it." Emma shrugged.

"Anything else you need help with, while we are here?" Snow looked at her daughter who was anxiously closing her book, showing that she was done with today's lesson.

Once her books were neatly organized on the table, Emma looked at Snow, "I'm just sad that I can't ask them questions about our family's history," Emma admitted to her mother. This was something that both her parents didn't like, the fact that they were her only family by blood that was left. Of course Emma and her parents visited her father's parents' resting places but it wasn't the same. All of her friends talked about stories that their grandparents tell them but she only has what her parents know of their past.

"I know, baby." Snow sighed and let out a sad smile. It was moments like these that broke her heart. "I still wish that they were here too. I know you would have had every single one of them wrapped around your finger like you have your father." Snow kissed her daughter's cheek and pushed Emma's hair behind her ears.

"Can we go and visit Grandma Ruth soon? I wanted to brief her on some things." Emma looked to her father. She saw his smile.

"I will plan a trip as soon as we can." Charming nodded and looked to his wife. "What do you say? Should we make a family trip out of it? Maybe have a riding lesson on the way?" Emma smiled at the potential lesson.

"That sounds like a lovely idea," Snow agreed and placed her daughter on the floor. "Now, why don't we see Cas and have that riding lesson I promised you yesterday?."

Emma jumped up and down. "Let's go, Mamma. I can show you what Cas and I have been working on. Papa, are you coming too? You promised that you would." Emma placed her hands on her hips, trying to act stern.

"Have I ever not followed through on a promise?" Charming asked. Emma thought back, shook her head and smiled. "Good, now let's go. Your mother and I will plan our trip later." Charming stood and gave Snow his hand to help pull her off the chair.

"Come on, Mamma! Cas isn't going to be happy if we make her wait all day! I promised her a carrot." Emma pulled her mother along as both her parents smiled. She was never this excited when it was time for her reading and writing lessons.

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I hoped you liked it. Don't forget to leave a review, I always love hearing what you have to say. :)


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